Niagara accident victims identified

February 7, 2013

MARINETTE - Police have released the names of a 29-year-old Wisconsin woman who died and two males who were injured Tuesday morning when the vehicle they were riding in slammed into a bridge abutment in Niagara, Wis.

Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Sauve said Heather Vandenwildenberg of Beecher, Wis., was killed in the accident, which occurred at about 9:30 a.m. CST on County "O." She was a passenger in a southbound four-door Jeep that struck the Pemenee Creek bridge abutment.

Police said the driver was Joshua Faccio, 23, of Pembine, Wis. He and Timothy Thew, 21, a passenger from Niagara, Wis., were taken to Dickinson County Memorial Hospital in Iron Mountain, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Vandenwildenberg was also taken to the hospital where she died from injuries suffered in the crash, police said.

Sauve said speed too fast for the snow-covered roadway and no seat belt usage were believed to be factors in the crash. The fatality is the second this year in Marinette County.

Pembine rescue and fire departments and Beacon Ambulance assisted the sheriff's office at the scene.